Jacob Myers | NCAA.com | September 21, 2018

College volleyball: We picked 3 games for each conference that could decide its regular-season champion

The conference season is underway in Division I women’s volleyball and there are plenty of top matchups in the early going that will provide a litmus test for the contenders and the pretenders for each conference championship.

We compiled a list of three games in each conference that you could look back on at the end of the season as matchups that were critical in determining the conference champion from the American Athletic Conference through the West Coast Conference.

A-10

Dayton at VCU - Oct. 26

VCU went 14-0 in A-10 play last year and is picked to repeat. Dayton was 13-1 with its only loss in five sets to the Rams in the regular season, as well as a five-set loss to VCU in the conference championship match.

Dayton at St. Louis - Nov. 2

Dayton has a late road matchup with the Billikens, which were picked third in the preseason poll.

Davidson at VCU - Nov. 10

If VCU is in line to clinch a second straight conference title, they’ll have Davidson at home in the season finale.

Big Sky

Idaho tied for the Big Sky title and lost in three sets at home to Sacramento State last season.

Sacramento State at Portland State - Nov. 13

The Hornets will play a third straight road game when the take on the Vikings in the penultimate game of the regular season.

Idaho at Northern Arizona - Nov. 15

Northern Arizona was picked second in the preseason behind Idaho and will host the Vandals in the second-to-last game of the regular season.

Big South

Radford at Campbell - Oct. 26

This is the second meeting between two programs that each had one first-place vote in the preseason conference poll.

Radford at High Point - Nov. 2

High Point defeated Radford twice in the regular season last year but the Highlanders upset the Panthers in the conference championship. High Point had eight of 10 first-place votes in the preseason poll.

High Point at Winthrop - Nov. 9

To end the season, High Point has three straight road matchups with Winthrop coming right in the middle of it.

Big Ten

Minnesota at Penn State - Nov. 23

The Nittany Lions were picked fifth in the preseason, but they have four straight home games to end the season and always end the year playing well. This will likely be a must-win for either team in contention for the conference title.

Penn State at Nebraska - Nov. 2

It’s always must-watch television when these two programs meet. The Cornhuskers will travel to Penn State on Oct. 13.

Nebraska at Wisconsin - Oct. 19

The Badgers and Cornhuskers meet just once this year, which makes this an important game for each team that has conference title aspirations.

Big West

Cal Poly at Hawaii - Oct. 26

Cal Poly looks like a potential national seed through four weeks of play. Hawaii might be the last true test for the Mustangs.

Cal Poly at UC Irvine - Nov. 10

UC Irvine was picked third in the preseason and will get its shot at the Mustangs in the second-to-last week of the season.

UC Irvine at Hawaii - Nov. 15

Cal Poly was picked to repeat in the preseason and has played well early on, but the Anteaters and Rainbow Wahine might be battling for an at-large bid to the tournament.

Ohio Valley

Murray State at Austin Peay - Sept. 25

The Racers were picked to win the conference in the preseason despite losing to Austin Peay in the conference title match last season. This will be an excellent test at the beginning of the conference slate.

Austin Peay at Murray State - Oct. 30

The rematch of these two teams should be as equally important for conference positioning as the first game.

Murray State at SIUE - Nov. 10

SIUE, picked third in the preseason poll, ends the regular season with home games against Austin Peay then Murray State.